Pakistan’s Hafeez cleared to bowl in international cricket

Dubai, Nov 30 (IANS) Pakistan’s premier all-rounder Mohammed Hafeez was on Wednesday cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to resume bowling in international cricket after his action was found to be legal.

The off-spinner was originally suspended from bowling in November 2014, but he was reassessed and permitted to resume bowling in April 2015.

He was reported again during the Galle Test against Sri Lanka (June 17 to 21, 2015) and was subsequently suspended for 12 months in July 2015 after an independent assessment revealed he had employed an illegal bowling action for the second time in 24 months.

But the tweaker was on Wednesday cleared after his tests on November 17 were found to be within the ICC’s permissible amount of elbow extension — within the 15-degree level.

“On November 17, Hafeez underwent a reassessment of his bowling action at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane where it was revealed that the amount of elbow extension for all his off-spin deliveries was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations for the review of bowlers reported with suspected illegal bowling actions,” a statement from the global body read.

“The umpires are still at liberty to report Hafeez if they believe he is displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal action from the reassessment.”

“To assist the umpires, they will be provided with images and video footage of the bowler’s remodelled legal bowling action,” the statement further read.

If the all-rounder is reported again, he will be required to undertake further analysis of his bowling action at an ICC accredited testing centre.